i 



First Aid to Santa 



I 



ETHELYN SEXTON. 




PRICE 25 CENTS] 



Eldridge Entertainment House 

Franklin, Ohio ^^s Denver, Colo. 

944 So. Loff«n Street 



Four Clever New Entertainffients 



SURE POP AND THE SAFETY 
FIRST SCOUTS 

is going to be a splendid help in all 
'^Safety First" Campaigns and can be 
. given by children in the school-room 
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A roaring black-face comedy, suitable 
for minstrels or short play on any 
program. Price 35 cents. 

COMMUNITY PLAYS FOR 

VARIOUS DAYS 

is a great help in developing the 
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civic work. Price 50 cents. 

SPECIAL PLAYS FOR 
SPECIAL DAYS 

This is another splendid book for 
every teacher. These short plays are 
enjoyable, either for school-room use 
or for exhibition purposes. A play 
for every special day. Price 50 cents. 



ELDRIDGE ENTERTAINMENT HOUSE 

FRAmiH, OHIO, ako 944 S. Loiaa, DENVER, COIO. 



-fffiST AD TO SANTA 



A Christmas Playlet In Two Acts. 



/ 

BY ETHELYN SEXTON 



Copyrigrht 1921, Eldridgre Entertainment House. 



PUBLISHED BY 

ELDRIDGE ENTERTAINMENT HOUSE, 
Franklin, Ohio Denver, Colo. 

DEC 19 1921 / 



CAST OF CHARACTERS 






Santa Claus 
Mrs. Santa 
Fuzzy (boy) 
Pussy 
Cuddle 



Talking Doll 
Tipperary Doll 
French Doll 
Indian Doll 
Jack-in-the-box 



Sailor Doll 
Soldier Doll 
Dutch Doll 
Japanese Doll 
Rag Doll 



COSTUMES 

Fuzzy and Piissy wear modern costumes of children 
between ages of six and eight. Cuddie wears white suit 
with long, full trousers and jacket, much like a Pierrot 
costume. It is trimmed with red, as is his white peaked 
hat. The dolls are costumed as their names signify. The 
talking doll is dressed like a baby. The Jack-in-the-box 
wears a clown suit. If there is difficulty in preparing a 
suitable box for him, he may be brought in draped in a 
sheet and referred to as ''yet to be placed in the box." 

When the various dolls do their walks and dances, 
appropriate music should be played, and a lively march 
accompanies the entrance and exit of the groups.' The 
mechanical dance consists of short, quick steps and jerky 
movements of the arms. 

In the second act care should be taken that the act- 
ing of the dolls be not over-shadowed by the others. 
While each doll performs, the children should be all at- 
tention and lead in the delight and applause wTiich each 
doll causes. Cuddie is quick and graceful and may eas- 
ily be played by a girl, as may Fuzzy, 



)C!.D 59438 ^ 



First Aid To Santa 



ACT I. 

Sitting room of the Santa Claiis home. The fur- 
nishings are simple but home-like, Perha/ps there is a 
fireplace at R, C, a couch at L. C. Comfortable chairs 
and a table may complete the furniture. Mrs. Santa sits 
by table, which is down stage at right. .She is mending 
a suit of clothes belonging to Santa. Exits are at right 
end left, well up stage. 

Mrs. S — Really, it seems almost a waste of time to 
mend those worn-out clothes. They are scarcely worth 
it ; for the climbing of roofs is hard upon clothes. Then, 
too, going down chimneys rubs sleeves and trousers sad- 
ly. After one Christmas season a suit is not fit to wear. 
(sighs) But where poor Santa is going to get money 
for a new suit is indeed a problem. The strike of the 
toy-makers is a disastrous thing for the Santa Claus 
family. Besides, it nearly breaks Santa's heart to think 
of the boys and girls who will be disappointed. Just 
think of the empty stockings and bare Christmas trees ! 

(Enter Santa Claus.) 

Santa — Well, Mother, I've sold two of the reindeer; 
that will keep us going for a while, at least. 

Mrs. S. — Oh, have you? To think that we should be 
driven to such an extremity! What ones did you sell? 

Santa — Slasher and Crasher. How I dreaded to see 
them go! They were the leaders of the team, you know. 

Mrs. S. — ^Who bought them? 

Santa — A trader from Alaska is going to start a 
reindeer jitney. He thinks it will be a great money- 
making scheme. 



First Aid to Santa 



Mrs, S, — Slasher and Crasher will give them some 
fast rides. Do you remember how they used to bound 
over the roofs of the houses on frosty nights? 

Santo. — (enthusiastically) Do I? Those were the 
good old days. Plenty of toys for everybody. And the 
little folks trying to keep awake and hear the sound of 
the bells. But they never caught me. Old Santa was al- 
ways too sharp for them. 

Mrs, h, — Indeed you were. You always vvfi"ied un- 
til every little tot was sound asleep Lei ere you even har- 
nessed the reindeer. Then I helped you into ;vour big 
fur coat and away you wont. 

Santa — (sits in chair at right) Did I tell you that 
I had a telegram from the King of England? 

Mrs. &',— The King of England! What did he-— 

Santa — He evidently knows to what desperate 
straits I am ariven, for he offered me an enormous sum 
if I woula sell him a reindeer for a venison dinner. 

Mrs. S.— Oh, you didn't do it, Father? 

Santa — Well, I haven't yet. I can't bear the idea of 
anyone feasting on one of my pets. Of course, it may be 
that I— 

(Enter gaily Fuzzy and Pussy, each with a 
package of mail,) 

Fuzzy — Here's the mail! 

Pi^ss?/— We've brought the mail, father. (They 
give letters to Santa, Pussy sits on stool near her moth- 
er. Fuzzy stands by Santa,) 

Santa — Not much use to read them, I'm afraid. 

Fuzzy — Oh, yes, Father, read them. 

Pussy— Yes, please do. We want to hear what all 
the little boys and girls want for Christmas. (Santa 
reads a few letters. If desired, local color may be intro- 
duced by reading letters written presumably by charac- 
ters in the audience, asking for various gifts. Otherwise 
the letters may be signed ivith fictitious names. After 



First Aid to Santa 



each letter, Fuzzy and Pussy make exclamations like **rd 
like a doll like that, too,'' or ''Do you suppose you can 
take it to him?'' etc) " 

Santa — And to think I can't fill these orders! It 
does seem as if some enterprising merchant or inventor 
might set his brains to work and think of a way out of 
tnis difficulty. The worst of it is that when Christmas 
Day comes, and there are no toys for all these little peo- 
ple, they will blame me for neglecting them. (Rises and 
walks about.) I can't bear to disappoint them. 

Fuzzy — Oh, Father, do you mean that there won't 
be any toys for anyone? 

Pussy — Why, it won't seem like Christmas at all! 

Santa — Oh, the grown-ups can have their usual 
presents — dining room table for mother; kitchen stove 
for father ; a shawl for grandma ; bracelet for sister ; be- 
cause I don't deal in grown-up's presents. But the little 
folks, I'm afraid, won't have toys. 

Fuzzy—Won't we get any either? 

Santa — I don't like to disappoint you, little Fuzzy, 
but I don't know w^here I can get any toys, even for my 
own little people. All the toy factories in which I have 
an interest have closed. 

Mrs. S. — (to Pussy, who begins to cry quietly) 
Don't cry, dear; something pleasant is going to happen 
soon, I am sure. For the sun can't stay under the dark 
clouds for long at a time. It will be peeping through 
soon. And perhaps everything will come out all right. 
(A knock is heard at the door. It is not so much a knock 
as a tap. All look at each other as if ivondering tvhether 
they really did hear something,) 

Mrs, S. — Did somebody knock? 

Fuzzy — It sounded like a woodpecker coming to 
make us a call. 

Pussy — I'll open the door and see. (Runs to door 
' and opens it Cuddie skips in,) 



First Aid to Santa 



Cuddle — Hello everybody! Surprised to see me are- 
n't you? People usually are. I always arrive when 
things are looking black and when people have become 
so very blue that they've stopped laughing and think old 
Mr. Joy has put on his winged slippers and scampered 
away — off. (Cuddle's smile and merry little dance as he 
describes the scampering of Mr. Joy have brought smiles 
and cheer to the Santa family.) 

Santa — Well, well! And, who may you be, little 
friend? 

Cuddle — Cuddie, of the Restoration Service. 

Mrs. S. — We are glad to see you. (Pussy and Fuz- 
zy Involuntarily draw close to him. Fuzzy inspects his 
costume from his peaked hat to his red-ribboned slip- 
pers.) 

Fuzzy — Oh, Mother, see his funny trousers! 

Pussy — How nice and clean he looks. 

Cuddle — ^'Cleanliness first'' — that's one of my mot- 
toes. Another is: **Better a teeny-weeny smile than not 
any smile at all, though Mr. Joy has skipped, skipped, 
skipped, he's always within call." (Skips about with a 
whistle or merry laugh,) 

Santa — This beats me. Cuddie, of the Restoration 
Service. And v/hat do you restore? 

Cuddle — Oh, I restore the smiles to the little folks 
who weep. (Pats Pussy on the cheek,) I restore sweet 
thoughts to those who grieve themselves to sleep. I re- 
place the shining stars when they drop down from the 
sky. I lift the flowers' dainty heads w^hen the wind has 
passed them by. Whate'er occurs to reave the earth of 
smiles and jocund joys— presto! I'm there to put them 
back. And, so — I bring you toys. 

The Santa Family — Toys? 

Cuddie — Toys! Soldier dolls that walk like this 
(illustrates) And dolls that say **mama" (pushing im- 
aginary spring), Dolls that dance (Illustrates), And 
dolls that bow ("bows^. And dolls that say "pa-pa." 
(pushes spring) 



First Aid to Santa 



Pussy — (dancing up and down) I want a beautiful 
doll that talks. 

Fuzzy — And I want a soldier doll that walks. 

Santa — I'll take a hundred of every kind. 

Mrs. S. — Cuddie, you certainly are a find. 

Fuzzy — Hurrah for Cuddie! (This is repeated by 
Fussy, Mrs. S. and Santa in turn. They join hands 
end dance around Cuddie as curtain falls.) 



ACT 11. 



(Reception room and exhibition room of the Restor- 
stion Shop, The room is furnished with a small table 
and chairs which may be easily and quickly shoved aside 
when the dolls come on. A sign, *'The Restoration Serv- 
ice/' should be in plain view. This may be in Christmas 
colors, and other Christmas suggestions may take the 
form of festoons or wall decorations. Mottoes appropri- 
ate to the philosophy of Cuddie, such as ''Keep Smiling,'* 
or original ones of like meaning may be in evidence. The 
stage is empty for a moment, then the sound of sleigh- 
bells is heard outside and Cuddie dances in, followed by 
Santa and the children. If it is desired to introduce 
Mrs. Santa in the scenes, this can easily be done by in- 
serting a line now and then for her to speak. It is, of 
course, distinctly Cuddie's scene, where he exhibits his 
stock, and Santa and the children are the only other 
essential characters.) 

Cuddie — Here we are. Welcome to the Restoration 
Shop. (Then half to the Santa Claus family and half to 
the audience, he recites the following lines :) 



First Aid to Santa 



Back to my Restoration shop, in the land of Happy 

Dream, 
Where everything is as you wish, and Mr. Joy supreme 
There are no tears, no sadness, no disappointments 

here. 
The Restoration Service deals exclusively in cheer. 
And, how to gain admittance? Ah, here's the golden 

key — 
A little Christmas present to all of you from me. 
Better a teeny-weeny smile than never a smile at all; 
Though Mr. Joy has skipped, skipped, skipped, 
He's always within call. 

(Santa and children laugh and applaud,) 

Cuddie — But you Clauses are anxious to have a look 
nt some of my dolls, Fil be bound. Just a minute. (He 
goes out R. followed to the door by the children, who 
stand looking off R., laughing and clapping their hands 
at what they see. Santa reads the mottoes and inspects 
the rooms, occasionally remarking, ''Well, this beats 
me/' The dolls off stage should be in readiness to come 
en at once. Cuddie's voice is heard saying, ''Out of the 
v^ay, there, you little Santas and help me a bit will you?'* 
Enter the French doll, the talking doll, the Tipperary 
doll and Indian doll. As each enters the sound of wind- 
ing is heard. The dolls o/re guided to positions about the 
stage and Cuddie stops them by touching the right 
spring. The French doll may be draped with a white 
covering and turned avjay from the audience as she en- 
ters.) 

Cuddie — Just one more in this group I want to show 
you. Just help me with this chap, will you? (He mo- 
tions to Santa, who aids him to carry in the JacJc-in-the- 
box in the box, or rolled in a sheet or covering of some 
kind.) 

Cuddie — How do you like them, Santa? 
Santa — Pretty fine specimens, I should say. 
Fuzzy — What kind of a doll is this? 



First Aid to Santa 



Cuddie — She is a Tipperary doll. Watch her Tip- 
perary walk. (Winds doll, who steps briskly off to tune 
of ''Tipperary/' or dances the Irish Lilt,) 

Santa — Well, this beats me! 

Pussy — And look at this one. It's the dearest little 
baby doll. 

Cuddie — Oh, that's a talking doll. Listen. (Cuddie 
pushes spring in dolVs chest and doll says, ''mama'' and 
''papa,") 

Santa — (pointing to draperiS^ over French doll,) 
What's this? 

Cuddie — Oh, that's Mademoiselle Eloise, the French 
doll. She is so delicate that I keep her covered most of 
the time. (He removes coverings, turns doll about and 
poses her,) 

Pussy — How beautiful! Buy her for me, won't you, 
father? 

Santa — -We'll see, we'll see. She's a beauty, all right. 

Fuzzy — (going to Jack-in-the-box) What's this? 
May I open it? 

Cuddie — Oh, yes; but be careful. That is a lively 
fellow. (Fuzzy opens box and darts back in alarm as 
Jack appea>rs.) 

Santa — (by the Indian doll) The Indian lady sort 
of takes my eye. What can she do? 

Cuddie — Oh, she is a dancing doll. Come, Red Wing, 
show them what you can do. (Doll dances a few Indian 
dance steps, then runs down,) There ! I forgot to mend 
that spring. (Adjusts spring and doll resumes dance,) 
The mechanism for these dancers is very delicate. It 
needs constant attention. (Pussy has disappeared for a 
moment, at Exit R,) 

Pussy — Look what I've found. 

Fuzzy — Let me see too. (Goes to exit,) 

Santa — What are you little folks up to? 



10 First Aid to Santa 

Citddie — More dolls. I was going to bring them out 
when you had inspected these. But, first help me get 
these fellows off. (With the help of Santa and children, 
the dolls are started out the exit on the left, and as the 
last one disappears the first of the second growp ap- 
pears. This group comprises the Soldier, the Sailor, the 
Japanese, the Rag doll, the Dutch dolL They are guided 
and placed and made ready for inspection.) 

Santa — -Well, this J)eats me. It does my old heart 
good to see some real dolls again. 

Fuzzy — All the little boys will want a soldier doll. 

Cuddle — ^You have not seen his accompishments. 
(Winds him and doll does a few movements of military 
drill) 

Santa — (inspecting rag doll) No home should be 
without one. She'll wash without fading and drop with- 
out breaking. See how solidly she is stuffed. (Bends 
doll from waist,) 

Santa — I shall want a big order of rag dolls. And 
this, I suppose, is the sailor lad. (Cuddie winds him and 
the sailor advances to the middle of stage and climbs an 
imaginary rope,) 

Cuddie — I paid a big sum just for that walk of his. 
The sailor is one of my best sellers. (The children have 
been investigating the Dutch doll. By accident they 
touch a spring and she suddenly says, **Ya, ya, ,Ach! 
Mein Liebchen!*' 

Santa- — Her accent is perfect. 

Cuddie — You'll like my Jap doll. Be careful of him^ 
children, I haven't many in stock. This one is a limber 
chap. Watch him bow. (Makes low bow, assisted by 
Cuddie.) But I have saved for the last the best of all. 
Bring out the other dolls. It will be a bit crowded, but 
we don't mind. (Dolls from left are brought out and 
arranged,) 

Cuddie — And, now you are going to see something 
truly wonderful. The only singing doll quartette in ex- 



First Aid to Santa 11 

istence, (Any four dolls may be chosen. Cuddie ivinds 
them; poses them. Then he says,) 

Cuddie — These have phonographic attachments in 
their stomachs. Listen ! (The dolls sing 'Tve Got a Pain 
■in My Sawdust,'' price 50 cents.) And now FlI press an 
electric button at the back and the others will join in the 
chorus. 

(The four dolls do a mechanical dance as all sing 
the chorus, Cuddie may dance with dolls. Dance may 
be repeated as curtain falls.) 



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